I just received this email this afternoon and I'm enclosing the entire contents below. Remember, NO NAIS! Not now, not ever!
Stephanie

Dear All,

The moment weve been waiting for is at hand: the moment to hammer a nail in the head of NAIS in Tennessee.

The House Ag Committee will vote on Frank Niceleys bill HB 976 this coming Tuesday, May 1, 2007. His bill would forbid any state funds to be spent on any animal identification system unless it is voluntary.

Last week, the Ag Committee heard debate on this bill and amended it in acceptable ways.
As the bill now reads, it provides that no state funds may be used for anything but a voluntary system and that a mandatory system
can only be put in place on a Federal level. This coming week it is number one on the Ag Committee agenda.

On the Federal level, mandatory animal ID has failed and is failing for a variety of reasons.
We believe that a voluntary NAIS will fail because of high costs. Already, pro-NAIS forces in Tennessee have been brought to confusion and shame of face.

What do we need now? Please call the members of the Ag Committee, at the very least, Steve McDaniel, Johnny Shaw, and Bill Dunn. All the contact info for the Ag Committee members is below. If you contact Rep. Litz, be sure to thank him for his cooperation so far.
Please remember that telephone calls have the greatest impact. Ask to speak to the representative himself. If you just cannot call, then fax. If you cant fax, then e-mail, but remember that one call is worth a thousand e-mails.

Heres what to say to them, in your own words. If you are ugly, shout or scream, curse, etc., you will hurt our cause. Rather, be polite but forceful, and know in advance what you are going to say so that you can keep it short and too the point.

1. Tell him that you oppose the National Animal Identification system, and especially making it mandatory.
2. Tell him that you are in favour of Representative Frank Niceleys bill No. 0976 to forbid any state funds being used for anything except a voluntary animal identification system.
3. Ask him to vote FOR Representative Niceleys bill No. 0976 when the Agriculture Committee votes on Tuesday.

We have fought our way down a long, dusty road fighting NAIS. Please, when we stand this close to victory, dont let up. Make those calls. Send those faxes and e-mails. Circulate this email as widely as you can.

* NAIS will hurt Tennessee's economy:
o There has been no analysis at federal or state level that establishes the costs or benefits of NAIS.
o Costs of the program include the cost of the tags, hardware, software, time and labor
o Many small farmer and ranchers cannot afford these costs
o Service providers (veterinarians, feed stores, auction houses, meat processors, etc.) will be harmed when the farmers and ranchers go out of business.
o Remaining farmers will pass the costs on to consumers, lowering demand for local foods

* Neither the USDA nor the TDA has scientific proof that NAIS will improve disease control:
o It does not address the cause, treatment, or transmission of disease, in domestic or wild animals.
o It does not significantly improve on current methods for identification and tracking of disease.

* NAIS is not necessary for the market. Age- and source-verification is already available through the USDA's Process Verified Program

* NAIS will not improve food safety
o USDA itself has stated that this is not a food safety program
o Contamination of food with e. coli and other bacteria occurs at the slaughterhouse or afterwards, while NAIS will stop before that point.

* NAIS will not protect against terrorism.
o The microchips chosen by the state can be cloned, destroyed, or infected with computer viruses, and reprogrammed. Any terrorist or thief can use this.
o The database of information, created by TDA and available to USDA, will provide a target for hackers.